# Ben Rhodes On Iran, Israel, And America

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188/ben-rhodes-on-iran-israel-and-america
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188/ben-rhodes-on-iran-israel-and-america.md
Podcast: [The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188)
Published: 2026-06-05T16:59:38+00:00
Episode link: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/ben-rhodes-on-iran-israel-and-america
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/199693143/96cf197c84ea421d9616bf29bfbc9f4e.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-dishcast-with-andrew-sullivan-1371188/episodes/ben-rhodes-on-iran-israel-and-america
Duration seconds: 3356

## Resource

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.com Ben is a writer and political adviser. He served as a deputy national security advisor and speechwriter to Obama for both terms. He’s currently a co-host of “Pod Save the World,” a contributing opinion writer for the NYT, and a contributor for MS NOW. He’s the author of After the Fall and The World as It Is , and his new book is All We Say : The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches . We avoided saying anything that might upset the Ellisons. Enjoy! For two clips of the episode — on AIPAC opposing the JCPOA, and our latest catastrophe in the Middle East — head to our YouTube page . Other topics: raised in NYC by a Methodist dad from small-town Texas and a Jewish mom whose relatives died in the Holocaust; lots of political debate growing up; Hemingway and Fitzgerald as formative writers; Orwell; Graham Greene and the brokenness of the world; Obama’s sense of realism; Lee Hamilton a key mentor; moving to DC after 9/11 to write about foreign policy; Obama and Crimea; Syria and the refugee crisis; the Paris agreement; Netanyahu’s disdain for Obama; the antisemite card; the Iron Dome; the Dish covering the Green Revolution; Hegseth’s hubris; the LEGO meme videos; Trump’s supervillain statements; the Hormuz debacle; the IDF quartering its soldiers in Palestine; the never-ending settlements; pogroms in the West Bank; the abuse in Israel prisons; the Greenland threat; NATO stepping up to fund Ukraine; the drone revolution; Trump’s demagogic genius; Obama’s speechmaking; his Peace Prize; Niebuhr; Lincoln’s second inaugural; FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech to end isolationism; JFK; the talent of Jon Ossoff; and the disappointments of Obama’s post-presidency. Browse the Dishcast…

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## Transcript

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